<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>straw house (crushed ice) by peachxi (peachi3)</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28005201">straw house (crushed ice)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachi3/pseuds/peachxi'>peachxi (peachi3)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>fic requests [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>EXO (Band), NCT (Band), SHINee, SuperM (Korea Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Demons, Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Multi, Other, Pain, Polyamory</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:54:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,339</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28005201</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachi3/pseuds/peachxi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>an alternate take on the scene in chapter 22 of bloodlines, based on this prompt:</p><p>3. “Mark sees the break before he feels it, sees the moment Taeyong rushes forth, all hot white light and panic, sees Jongin in all his mortality barrel toward the most powerful demon they know as he crushes his son in his grasp, sees Taemins eyes glare with fight as he feels Taemin flicker within him, sees Baekhyun give up and crumple, sees the gashes on Ten’s skin as he gives his all- Mark thinks he sees the break before he feels it- and he focuses on how it never comes” — au where asmodeous isn’t banished all pain"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Everyone/Everyone, Kim Jongin | Kai/Mark Lee (NCT), Lee Taemin/Lee Taeyong, SuperM Ensemble/SuperM Ensemble</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>fic requests [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1919041</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>straw house (crushed ice)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>this is all pain, no comfort, with lots of ambiguity about whether certain individuals live etc and some definitive deaths. This is definitely not canon, of course, just an au of an au, which is why I don't have it in the ALW series. It's not the most graphic thing ever but read at your own discretion.</p><p>I hope you're all having a wonderful day</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">How could a mere mortal ever stand up to a demon of that calibre? The answer was simple: they couldn’t. <em>Sicheng</em> couldn’t. One moment Mark was running into the room with the others hot on his heels and the next he was watching as the older male was thrown flying across the room; there was a sickening <em>crack</em> as he hit the wall and then his body fell down to the ground like a rag doll, limp and lifeless. It was such a small miscalculation, but a miscalculation nonetheless. Asmodeous would be banished if his summoner died in the circle, but the thing was that he’d already been offered a vessel which tethered him to the earth, and the vessel was his own flesh and blood.</p><p class="p1">It’d take a miracle to banish him, and Mark felt like they were fresh out of miracles.</p><p class="p1">Mark saw the break before he felt it; every candle in the room flickered violently for a moment before they went deathly, unnaturally still. The <em>thing </em>wearing Taemin’s skin cocked his head and smirked, that twist of his lips looking so wrong on his lover's features. The last remnants of sleep that’d been clinging to Mark were extinguished instantly and, even with his limited knowledge of what was happening in that very moment, a thick, icy panic seized him.</p><p class="p1">Taeyong was the first to move. He launched himself forward with a single-minded panic, that fae glory burning bright around him in a way that filled the room, but the emotion clouded his judgment, made him sloppy, and even before that when had Taeyong ever been much of a fighter in this regard? Asmodeous was probably banking on it. Mark’s stomach dropped the moment he saw Asmodeous’s fingers curl around Taeyong’s throat, catching him in mid-air. It was like watching a flame be snuffed out, the way Taeyong’s magic seemed to instantly falter as he kicked and hit at the other, trying to get away, his eyes burning with rage and panic. He got thrown aside, too, but not like Sicheng — there was no blood or broken bones — as Yuta barrelled into him. Asmodeous didn’t budge an inch. All he did was laugh. In a blur, too fast for human eyes, he snapped his neck like it was nothing and Mark watched as his friend sunk to his knees and slowly crumbled into ash.</p><p class="p1">Everything happened so fast, but so slow.</p><p class="p1">Mark didn’t even have time to stop Jongin, who’d been standing beside him, from moving past him with anguished fury. For all those emotions storming behind his eyes, none of them were fear — at least, not for himself. He was the bravest human there was, but was there a difference between bravery and stupidity when it came to something like this. Something in Asmodeous’s eyes flickered, faltered, and for a split second Mark saw he thought Taemin try to fight through it; his heart rose, his breath hitching, but all that hope was squashed as he watched the man he knew fade away into the cold, ravenous mask of his father.</p><p class="p1">“You humans, always so stupid,” he tsked. One flick of his hand Jongin was shoved back by an immense invisible force, crashing into him and making them both fall down to the ground. It hurt, sure, and it took the breath out of him, but Mark didn’t get a chance to worry about that when he noticed the limp weight of the older male half slumped against him. Blood dripped from Jongin’s nose and his chest barely rose in ragged breaths which seemed to crackle with each movement; Mark didn’t have to be a healer to know something was wrong. He’d never realised how quickly his life could fall apart.</p><p class="p1">“Taemin,” Ten choked, the air whipping around him as he took a step forward. “Hyung, <em>please</em>, I know you’re in there— you’re stronger than this. I need you to come back to me I need you to fight this—“</p><p class="p1">“As heartwarming as your little speech is, I’m getting bored,” Asmodeous interrupted in a tired drawl. “You think I can’t feel you trying to set wards? You really think <em>you</em> of all people are capable of containing me?” Footsteps got louder and louder against cool stone and Mark, his body still aching from the force of that magic, managed to choke out a warning.</p><p class="p1">“Don’t—“</p><p class="p1">Another wave of magic hit so hard that it made him see stars, his ears popping before he felt something warm running down his cheeks. It was hard for him to process anything that happened over the next few . . . well, he wasn’t sure how long. All he could see were bodies. Sicheng. Yuta. Jongin, his lips pale and eyes empty. The smell of blood saturated the air, air which was so thick and cloying he could barely breathe.</p><p class="p1">And then there was Ten. Mark had since learnt the truth of Ten’s magic and his past habits of pushing past his boundaries when it came to his abilities without any care of the price he’d pay. He’d promised them no more scars yet here he was, bloody gashes saturating his body as he struggled to get back up onto his feet with heaving shoulders. Each time he tried to move, to draw on his magic, Asmodeous pushed him back down and laughed like it was the most amusing thing he’d seen. Maybe it was for him. For Mark, it was one of the most painful, heartbreaking things he’d ever had to endure. When Ten was pushed down yet again, this time he couldn’t get back up, blood streaming over his face and eyes drifting in and out as his head lolled to the side, just enough for him to meet Mark’s gaze.</p><p class="p1">Mark desperately tried to crawl forward even with the oppressive weight of the magic which pinned him down. Every single one of his bones ached in protest. It felt like he was being crushed alive. “Hyung,” he just barely managed in a hoarse, broken whisper. “<em>Hyung</em>.”</p><p class="p1">“It’s okay, Mark,” Ten whispered breathlessly. “It’s okay.”</p><p class="p1">“Pathetic,” a cold voice commented as everything went black.</p><p class="p1">Thick smoke filled the air and choked his senses as Mark’s eyes managed to fight their way open, shrill screams and shouts resonating throughout the air. Beyond them, he could just barely make out two voices, even if his eyes couldn’t focus on them fully.</p><p class="p1">Taeyong. He knew that sound anywhere. Crying— no, <em>sobbing</em>, the sort of noise which sent chills down your spine and invoked a primal reaction of pain. “<em>Why?</em>” He cried out in an excruciating wail, on his hands and knees as he sat in the middle of all the destruction. “How could you— <em>please</em>. Please, I’ll do anything, I’ll make any deal you want, just give him back. <em>Give them back, please, I can’t do this.</em>”</p><p class="p1">“You look so pretty when you cry,” Asmodeous preened as he crouched in front of him. His hand reached out to swipe a thumb over Taeyong’s cheek, gathering the tears there before he raised it to his mouth and slowly licked away the moisture. “Come on now, gorgeous, don’t be like that. Don’t you like how I look?” Taeyong sobbed again. “You wouldn’t give up on him, now, would you? I thought you loved him?” And there it was, just a small, faint spark of fight, something barely even discernible, but it was still there as Taeyong met the eyes of the demon.</p><p class="p1">Everyone knew Taeyong would never give up, no matter how impossible it was; if there were even the smallest chance that any bit of Taemin still remained he’d try to keep going.</p><p class="p1">“Why not just kill me too?”</p><p class="p1">“Why would I? You have so much potential, my darling little fae. We’re going to have <em>so</em> much fun together.”</p><p class="p1">Mark took one last shuddering breath and his eyes stung. He thought that maybe he saw it — the break — before he felt it, but as his vision faded he waited, and waited, and it never came.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>as always, I don't have a beta so apologies for any mistakes/inconsistencies</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>